Writer observes | Wang Chezhi: Poetry is a kind of record of my personal life

Editor's note: Since the 21st century, the global economy, science and technology have developed rapidly, culture and art have interacted closely, the time and space distance between people has suddenly shortened, and people's communication methods, social and cultural forms have all carried the unique characteristics of this era. In this regard, focusing on science, art, psychology, medicine, ethics, environment and other related topics, the New Hainan Client Culture Channel and the Hainan International Communication Center invite well-known writers, poets and scholars from the mainland to jointly launch a series of interviews with "Writers Observation", so please pay attention to it.

The timing alternates and everything is renewed. Looking back on 2021, I have experienced confusion, laughter and pride, and brilliant achievements, full of indelible memories and eternal nostalgia. Looking forward to 2022, standing on the threshold of the New Year, we not only feel the warmth and hope of the New Year, but also feel the dreams and expectations of the future.

In the past year, writers and scholars have, as always, used their affectionate brushstrokes to depict the changes of the times, and wrote the grandeur of the world with Han Mo Danqing. The years are hurried, the page of 2021 has turned over, in the new year, what are the expectations and prospects of writers and scholars?

In this issue, the New Hainan Client Culture Channel and the Hainan International Communication Center interviewed Wang Chezhi, a young poet and scholar, bringing his views.

Wang Chezhi, born in 1994, poet, Doctor of Literature, Oxford University. He has won the 5th Beijing Poetry Festival Annual Young Poet Award (2019), the 1st New Poetics Award (2020), the 1st Rapid Eye Poetry Award (2020), the 8th Breakthrough Annual New Poet Award (2021), the 1st Pleated New Poet Award (2022), etc. He is the author of Nineteen Poems 19 POEMS (New York, 2018) and Lion Rock (Hainan, 2019, New Poems Series No. 23).

1. Looking back on 2021, what did you gain from writing?

Wang Chezhi: 21 years of writing is not too much, almost once a month, the epidemic environment has also made writing a little difficult. However, most of these poems are still qualified, and they are a kind of record of my personal life.

2. In 2021, one thing that makes you feel more deeply, can you talk to us?

Wang Chezhi: It is an online New Year's Eve poetry reading meeting at the end of the year. I couldn't go back to China for the Chinese New Year this year, but because I saw many teachers and friends in China at this event, I felt very warm.

3. How many books did you read in 2021? Are there any books worth noting?

Wang Chezhi: If you don't count the literature needed to write a paper, there are probably only a dozen books. Xiang Biao's "Self as a Method", Simona Weiyi's "God in Plato's Dialogue", Triggleton's "On Evil", Cicero's On Leaving and Dying Well ( On Life and Death) and so on, are all very interesting. In addition, it is worth recommending Yuan Ming's "Poetry with the Garden". The feeling of reading this book is that Yuan Ming is a very modern poet, and many ideas were more avant-garde at that time. But it can also be used as a book of passages, similar to "The World Speaks a New Language", which is very readable.

4. Which cities did you go to in 2021? Which city do you have a unique feel for?

Wang Chezhi: Because of the epidemic, there are fewer cities to go to. Excluding London and Oxford, I only went to Scotland in October and saw Edinburgh, St Andrews, and Dundee. St Andrews is a small town by the sea, very old and secluded, and very Scottish, with a scenery that cannot be seen in the big cities.

5. How would you rate your 2021 and can you talk about your writing plans for 2022?

Wang Chezhi: Overall, it is actually a very plain, even a little embarrassing year, but it is a safe and stable time. I hope that in the new year, I can successfully realize several publishing plans, write more poems and papers, and make myself more efficient.

6. The Spring Festival is a traditional festival in the mainland, but with the development of the times, the way people celebrate is quietly changing, what changes do you feel about this?

Wang Chezhi: When I was a child, I would buy new clothes for the New Year and eat a lot of food, so I looked forward to the New Year as soon as I arrived in winter. Now the New Year atmosphere seems to be less intense, sometimes it has become a new type of social way between relatives and friends, everyone is more busy and tired, more like the New Year.

7. Where is your hometown? Are there any special Spring Festival customs?

Wang Chezhi: My hometown is in Tianjin Binhai, Hangu. We had New Year's lunch instead of Chinese New Year's Eve. In fact, I still feel magical, and I have not seen this custom anywhere else.

8. Will you still watch the Spring Festival Gala with your family? Compared with when you were a child, what is the meaning of the current Spring Festival Gala in your heart?

Wang Chezhi: If I am at home for the New Year, I will still watch it with my parents. If I were to celebrate the Chinese New Year abroad, I would open the computer on time according to Beijing time and watch it on the Internet. It's more like a bond and makes me feel like I'm spending the night with my family during this time.

9. What is the thing you are willing to spend the longest time during the Spring Festival holiday?

Wang Chezhi: Watch movies with your family, buy things, and go shopping.

10. Now many people are afraid of the New Year, because they are always "bombarded" by various problems of relatives and friends at home, have you ever encountered such a situation? How to deal with it?

Wang Chezhi: I have encountered it, but I don't really care. Think about it from another position, if you are the relative who has not seen each other for a long time, what will you think of when you meet the junior? Still not ask those questions and express your concern? This is the common sentiment of people, and these questions are mostly out of goodwill. I would all be very happy to answer. Because in the future, I may also ask these questions to my juniors.

New Hainan Client, Nanhai Net, Nanguo Metropolis Daily reporters Liu Xinting, Cai Qianlan, Hu Yalan